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was then of undoubted originality, and varied, as the scene is, with which they were converfant. It cannot perhaps be faid, that an idea is to be found in their works, imitated from another. To whatever fubject they turned their attention, a picture of nature, fuch as was capable of filling their minds alone, arose in full profpe&t before them. An idea imagined by any other would be inadequate to the grafp of their genius, and uncongenial with their usual mode of conception. Intimately acquainted with the original fountains of human knowledge, accustomed themfelves to trace the operations of nature, they difdained to take notice of, or fubmit to the obfcure and imperfect tracts which had been marked out by an inferior pencil. They walked alone, and in their own ftrength; and wherever they have trod, have left marks which time will never efface, or perhaps, which no fuperior fplendor of genius will obfcure or eclipfe, but will ever continue to be the highest objects of human ambition and admi

ration.

But however high the merit of Shakespear must be, in thus claffing him with Homer, it would not be do ing justice to either of these fathers of genius, to appretiate their respective abilities by merely afferting them to be poets of the first order. The genius of Homer was undoubtedly fuperior in point of greatnefs and fire; the most awful and interefting scenes among mankind were the continual subjects of his fong; the hurry and grandeur of battle, the ftrength of mighty heroes, and all the violence of paffion, feem to be the high delight of his foul: like his rival in modern times, he was confpicuous for a display of character; but these were chiefly of the warlike kind: The fteady magnanimity of Agamemnon, the irrefiftible fury of Achilles, the prudent valour of Ulyffes, and the bodily strength of Ajax, are painted in strong and ftriking colours: and though he be not deficient in those of a more humble and amiable kind, yet in this fphere, Homer, and VOL. I.

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every other writer, ancient or modern, are left far be hind by Shakespear, whofe merit in this refpect is indeed aftonishing. He hath defcribed the great and the ludicrous, the good and the bad, with equal facility, in all their fhades of character, and in every fcene of human life. Succeeding writers have feldom mentioned his name without the epithet of Inimitable, and with much juftice; for there has not been wanting in the English language dramatic writers of merit, who were not infenfible to the fingular abilities of Shakespear; but of what writer except himself can it be said, that no imitation has been attempted, none of his characters have been affumed; his fimplicity, his fentiments, and even his ftile is altogether his own. In imitating Homer, many writers have not been unfuccefsful. Virgil in beauty and tenderness has exceeded him. Taffo in ftrength of description has often equalled him. In enraptured fublimity, Milton has gone beyond him. But none has yet in any degree appropriated the fpirit and the manner of Shakespear.

In every work of this great author, we discover all the marks of his genius; his diversity of character, his boundless imagination, his acute difcernment, and his nervous expreffion; but in none of them are these qualities more confpicuous than in the tragedy of Othello; a work also, the freeft of his irregularities, his puns, his bombaft, and conceits. No where has he painted virtue with more flaming fublimity than in the character of Othello; with more amiable tenderness, than in that of Defdemona; and no where are all the artifices of human nature more fully difplayed than in the character of Iago: from the whole, he has contrived a plot, the most moral in its tendency, which winds up to the highest pitch our fympathetic feelings, in concern for unfufpicious virtue, and at the fame time rouses our utmost indignation against deep-laid villainy. From a review of the conduct of the poet in producing fuch

a noble effect, we may expect much pleasure and improvement.

It may be obferved of the productions of a profound mind, that like the fource from whence they proceed, they are not apprehended at firft fight. Shakespear of ten begins his deepeft tragedies with the lowest buffoonery of the comic kind; with converfations among the inferior characters, that do not feem to be connected with the main plot; and there is often introduced throughout the work, the opinions of thofe engaged about the lower offices, about the principal actors, and the great defigns that are carrying on; and their inadequate conceptions has an excellent effect in enlivening the ftory; for befides the humour that is thereby produced, it elucidates the subject, by placing it in a variety of lights. Examples of fuch a conduct are frequent in all our author's works, and are not to be expected but from that extenfive capacity which is capable at once to view the fubject in its rife and progrefs, and connected with all its circumftances. Who can take a wide range into the affairs of men, without lofing fight of his principal action, whofe comprehensive mind can obtain many auxiliary ideas, and many remote defigns, without distracting, or driving out the great tendency of the whole. Writers of a more li

mited capacity, confcious of their want of ftrength to conftruct an edifice on fuch an enlarged plan, and confufed at the wild disorder of the materials as they lie fcattered through nature, generally rush headlong among them, and introduce darkness, where confufion only was before having once heated their imaginations, foam away, till they fuppofe the work is completed, and in fuch high-wrought raptures as darkness and confufion naturally produce: one prevailing fentiment runs through the whole; in every fpeech, according as the character is well or ill affected to the fuccefs of the adventure, it is blazoned forth with all the paffion the author can command; and the whole mafs is often chiefly illuminated

with many dazzling words of wonder, and terror, and amazement. Were the subject of Othello to be managed in the French mode, or by their English imitators, we might expect, in an introductory foliloquy, to fee the nature of jealousy, with all its dire effects, explained with much pomp of language, perhaps by the perfonage who is chiefly concerned in the story, or by a female confident obferving all at once the altered mind of her lord; and the same subject would be the continual theme from speech to fpeech, till the fatal conclufion, which never fails to be caused by fome longexpected and obvious discovery. During the course of the representation, the wearied fpectator, instead of that tumultuous joy, which is produced by the agitation of hope and fear, is only amufed at times with the inferior pleasure of poetical description, and many laboured attempts to inflame the mind by pathetic and fublime fentiments. Though often interrupted by different fpeakers, it is no other than an uninteresting and declamatory poem, where, if there is any display of character, it is but in general terms, of a man fplendidly good, or on the contrary, outrageoufly wicked; of a fair female, gentle and amiable, and of her fierce and haughty oppreffor; but always in the highest degree, moft aftonifhing, and as they would have it, beyond conception. The qualities of good and bad are fometimes expreffed with much vigour and fire, but the rest of the man is awanting; the imagination cannot lay hold on a diftinct and natural character, intermixed with fome foible, which never fail to attend the best, with a peculiar bias of mind towards a particular object, or the prejudices which are expected to be found from the profeffion, the fituation, or any of the circumftances of his life. The few who have fucceeded in this sphere, is a proof, that to excell in it requires a genius of the highest and most finished kind. The enthufiafm of imagination, and the calm and minute obfervation of judgment, qualities fo plainly requifite, arç

feldom found united in any high degree among mankind.

The characters which make a chief figure in the tragedy of Othello, are the Moor himself, Defdemona and Iago. The fubject is, the destruction-of Defdemona; and this catastrophe the author nevelofes fight of. It is indeed remarkable for unity of action, which of all the three unities is of principal confequence. Unity of time and place, peculiar to this fpecies of compofition, arife from the nature of dramatic representation, the action being supposed to be in view of spectators for a moderate fpace of time. But a ftrict attention to the unities of time and place has never been completely attained by any writer. When an action is to be represented, of such importance as to awaken, keep alive, and at last gratify curiofity, it must neceffarily give rife to many incidents; and thefe incidents, if confiftent with nature and probability, in different places and with different intervals, much time is fpent, and much is done behind the curtain, which cannot be brought in review; fuch liberties never offend the reader, and seldom the fpectator and when a certain degree of liberty is thought proper, the writer may go confiderable length without offending our sense of propriety; and we partly confider it as dramatic narration. To be To be fcrupuloufly attentive to the unities of time and place, confines the genius of the writer, makes the work barren of incidents, and confequently lefs interefting: much muft be forced and improbable; and the internal merit, and beauty of the ftory, must be facrificed to the external and artificial nature of reprefentation. Those who contend for a ftrict refemblance of the artificial action to the ftory, require what can never take place: the fcene is often changed on the same spot, and it matters very little whether from one room of the palace to another, or from London to York, as both are equally impoffible; and the fame may be said of fuppofing five minutes, when we well know it is really five hours;

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